KIU, Main Campus – Students from different colleges and schools at Kampala International University are reacting positively to online lectures as they look forward to catching-up with the time set for the semester.

The online lectures that begun on Monday last week are now gaining momentum with more than 70% of students attending actively.

The WhatsApp platform is also being used to ease the online study process.

According to Fred Kanakulya, Minister of Information for Students Guild Union, WhatsApp groups for each course unit were opened to facilitate online lectures.

He offered that the WhatsApp platform bring students and lecturers together in a virtual lecture room situation making it easy for them to share ideas instantly.

"We have different WhatsApp groups for every course unit where lectures are conducted," Fred said. "Actually, it is like a real lecture room only that we don't meet physically."

Esther Nandawula, a student leader in the College of Education, said that majority of the students in the college are responding positively.

She expressed gratitude that the online lectures are teaching students to use their mobile phones for productive purposes as opposed to just chatting or posting on social media.

Esther added that lecturers are giving assignments in order to keep students posted and active in the different groups.

Shafik Mugweri, a student of Mass Communication, thinks the online studying strategy will help finalists to catch-up easier.

"I have so far attended all lectures and I think this strategy will help us a lot," Shafik said. "If you look at the limited time left for finalists, this strategy will be useful for sure."

Apart from the lectures, students have gone ahead to carry out academic discussions online in preparation for tests and exams when the semester resumes.

The administration resolved that tests and exams shall be done immediately when students report back from the 30 days lockdown.